Will you vote to amend Indiana's constitution?

A statue of George Washington outside the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis.

stock photo / Billi GravelyThe Washington Post

SOUTHERN INDIANA — Hoosiers will have another issue to ponder in the General Election in addition to who they'll choose for school board, county, state and federal offices.

Public Question No. 1 will ask whether they support an amendment to the Indiana Constitution obligating the General Assembly to adopt balanced budgets.

The question, which was first proposed by Vice President Mike Pence when he was governor in his 2015 State of the State address, comes after it cleared two separate General Assemblies as a resolution, as required by state law.

Constitutional amendments are "relatively infrequent but not unheard of," said Frank Sullivan, professor of practice at the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law in Indianapolis. Hoosiers were last asked to vote on an amendment two years ago when it approved a provision to protect the right to hunt and fish.

That amendment stirred a bit of controversy after opponents, including the Humane Society of the United States, voiced concern that the measure could open the door for lawsuits against hunting restrictions, among other objections.

Sullivan, who served as the state's budget director for three years, and who sat on the Indiana Supreme Court for nine years, sees no such controversy with the most recent amendment.

The constitution already largely bans the state from incurring debt, except in times of war. Under the amendment, the General Assembly would be required to pass a balanced budget unless supermajorities of two-thirds of the members of each chamber vote to suspend the requirement.

"I don't think that this amendment does anything more than what already exists in the Constitution," said Sullivan, adding that, to his recollection, the state has had a balanced budget since 1891. "It seems to me that it's unnecessary. Nevertheless, two sessions of the Legislature found it necessary to pass and put it on the ballot."

One possible unintended consequence of the amendment, according to Sullivan, could be adding layers to the budgetary process.

"It adds a lot of what I would call 'bureaucratic legalize to the Constitution," Sullivan said. "Passing a budget should be difficult, but it may make what's already a difficult process even more difficult."

If anything, the amendment holds lawmakers accountable, according to state Rep. Ed Clere, R-New Albany.

The measure "is intended to underscore and reinforce our commitment to fiscal responsibility," Clere said, and "prevent the types of fiscal crisis that other states are experiencing, including at least two neighboring states, namely Illinois and Kentucky."

The supermajority requirement and a provision that the state must actuarially fund the accrued liability of pension funds are bonuses in Clere's eyes.

State Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Portage, was one of just four senators who voted against the amendment last year, but not because she's opposed to balanced budgets.

"I think we should have a balanced budget. We've always had a balanced budget ... We already have a provision in the Constitution that says we can't go into debt," Tallian said.

Sullivan, who plans to vote "no" on the amendment, is in Tallian's camp.

"I think the people's intent is to make a strong statement that we're a state that believes in balanced budgets," he said. "I think our history has already demonstrated that."

— The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Jason Thomas is an assistant editor at the News and Tribune. Contact him via email at jason.thomas@newsandtribune.com or by phone at 812-206-2127. Follow him on Twitter: @ScoopThomas.

MORE INFO

PUBLIC QUESTION NO. 1

Shall Article 10, Section 5 of the Constitution of the State of Indiana be amended to require the General Assembly to adopt balanced budgets for state government that do not exceed estimated revenues unless a supermajority of two-thirds of the members of the House of Representatives and two-thirds of the members of the Senate vote to suspend the requirement?

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

A JOINT RESOLUTION proposing an amendment to Article 10, Section 5 of the Constitution of the State of Indiana concerning state fiscal matters.

Be it resolved by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana:

SECTION 1. The following amendment to the Constitution of the State of Indiana, which was agreed to by the One Hundred Nineteenth General Assembly of the State of Indiana and referred to this General Assembly for reconsideration and agreement, is agreed to by this the One Hundred Twentieth General Assembly of the State of Indiana.

SECTION 2. ARTICLE 10, SECTION 5 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF INDIANA IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS:

(a) No law shall authorize any debt to be contracted, on behalf of the State, except in the following cases: to meet casual deficits in the revenue; to pay the interest on the State Debt; to repel invasion, suppress insurrection, or, if hostilities be threatened, provide for the public defense.

(b) The following definitions apply to this section only for purposes of the limits on the State budget under this section:

(1) "Revenue" means all income received by the state general fund and all other state funds, excluding the proceeds of bonds or other loans.

(2) "Expense" means the ordinary operating costs of State government, including any debt service payments made during the biennial budget period.

(c) The total amount of expense appropriations enacted by the General Assembly for a biennial budget may not exceed the estimated revenue of the State in the biennial budget period.

(d) A State budget enacted by the General Assembly must appropriate money for the State's prefunded pension funds in the amount necessary to actuarially fund the accrued liability of all such pension funds during the budget period.

(e) If expenses exceed actual revenue received by the State when reconciled at the close of a biennial budget period, the subsequent biennial budget must subtract any shortfall from the projected revenue available for that subsequent biennial budget.

(f) The requirements under subsections (c) and (d) may be suspended if at least two-thirds of the members of the House of Representatives and at least two-thirds of the members of the Senate vote to suspend the requirement.

(g) A court that orders a remedy pursuant to any case or controversy arising under thissection may not order any remedies other thana declaratory judgment or such other remedies that are specifically authorized by the General Assembly in a law implementing this section.

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